'Fried rat' a hoax, lab test confirms KFC served chicken

A US customer's claim that KFC, the world's largest chain of fried chicken restaurants, had served him a 'fried rat' instead of chicken has fallen flat after test of the meat confirmed it was indeed a piece of chicken.

A US customer's claim that KFC, the world's largest chain of fried chicken restaurants, had served him a 'fried rat' instead of chicken has fallen flat after test of the meat confirmed it was indeed a piece of chicken.

Devorise Dixon, who lives in Watts, California had posted the following photo on his Facebook page on June 12.

WENT BACK TO KFC YESTERDAY AND SPOKE TO THE MANAGER SHE SAID IT IS A RAT AND APOLOGIZED, IT'S TIME FOR A LAWYER!!! BESAFE DON'T EAT FAST FOOD !!!

The Facebook post turned into a PR nightmare for KFC's social media managers. And thousands of customers barraged its Facebook account questioning the company.

Dixon had initially not responded to KFC's call to send the product for testing. But on Friday his lawyer gave the product to an independent lab.

The fast food chain released a statement regarding the findings on Sunday.

"Recently in the US, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product which received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim. The product has now been tested by a third-party independent lab, which confirmed it is definitely a piece of chicken, as we knew all along. The right thing for this customer to do is to apologize and cease making false claims about the KFC brand," the statement said.